One, Two, Three
by Winged half-blood
Summary: Percy Jackson is hopelessly in love with his best friend. Too bad he hasn't seen her in nine years.


When Percy Jackson was seven years old his mom told him that they were moving from Richmond, Virginia to New York City. It was bittersweet, because he couldn't wait to be away from his ex-stepdad, and he'd seen all the movies so he knew how cool New York was, but leaving Richmond ment leaving Annabeth Chase, his best friend in the whole world and probably in every other world too. She was actually pretty much his only friend, but that was just because he never _needed_ another friend. He had Annabeth, and Annabeth had him, and they liked it like that, thank you very much.

It hurt, when he told her. He'd been trying not to cry, because his mom asked him to try and be "a really big strong boy about this, okay?", and he wanted to, but when Annabeth sat next to him after she hung up her coat and got her school folder his eyes started to sting. And because no one in the history of ever had _ever_ pulled a fast one on Annabeth (except maybe his mom, who could in fact do anything) she knew something was wrong.

"You okay, Percy?" Her head tilted a little to the side and her hair was in pigtails, which she hated but her dad loved. Her eyebrows were smushed together and her eyes looked like the color of the giant storm clouds that gave Percy nightmares. She was probably confused because it was a Friday, and Percy was _never_ sad on Fridays.

He decided the best way to do it was like a bandaid. "I'm moving to New York."

Annabeth, his best friend Annabeth, turned so that she was looking down at the desk, and didn't say anything. Percy frowned, more than just a little hurt, but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, Ms. Kerr started talking and he didn't want to have to sit out of recess. Halfway through Morning Math (which Percy didn't like _at all_ , especially because they were doing fractions) Annabeth moved her chair just a tiny bit to the left, away from him. He didn't think that she realized that he knew that she had just done that, but it had hurt a lot more than breaking his arm the year before had.

He tried _so hard_ to be super strong like his mom asked him to be, but by lunchtime he had already let a solitary tear start to fall before he had hastily wiped it away. He thought that maybe he'd get to talk to her at lunch, but by the time a Totally Spies lunchbox was tucked under his arm, Annabeth was already sitting at a different table with no more chairs. It was even worse than that time she had the flu and was out for three whole days. Instead of going over to an empty table, Percy took a deep breath and walked over to a table of boys that he saw aat swimming class sometimes at the YMCA near his house. They looked at him when he pulled out a chair, but didn't say anything, which Percy really appreciated. He opened his lunchbox and thought that maybe this lunch wouldn't be _so_ bad because his mom had cut the crusts off his sandwich _and_ had it arranged in four small triangles instead of two big ones. He had lemonade Capri Sun, a pudding pack, and a Go-Gurt that was probably for after school, but Percy knew he was probably going to eat it before his pudding.

Just as he had taken a bite of his super yummy sandwich, one of boys (Percy thought his name was something like Darren or Dylan or something) said, "Hey, what's on your lunchbox?"

Percy looked down at his blue (his mom had almost gotten the pink one) Totally Spies lunchbox and said "Um, it's a TV show. They're in high school, but they're also super spies."

Totally Spies was Annabeth's favorite show, and he had gotten his to match her green one, which had her favorite character, Sam, all over it. Percy didn't think it was as cool as something like The Amanda Show, or Tom and Jerry, but the lunchbox was _really_ cool, plus Annabeth had looked super happy when he came to school with it, so it was worth it.

Percy's jarred out of his thoughts when he realizes that Derek had been saying something else.

"...girl show, or something?" Damian frowned and ate a piece of asparagus, which was so gross that Percy had to look away.

"I mean," Percy said as he swallowed his latest bite of sandwich, "It's a show _about_ girls, but it's also about guys?" Percy frowned, and then said, "I'm pretty sure it's a girl _and_ guy show."

Dion didn't say anything after that, but he shared a look with one of his friends that had Percy not saying anything for the rest of lunch.

Percy thought he might get his chance at recess, but he forgot that he couldn't go to recess because Ms. Kerr caught him splashing some jerk that said Annabeth was brainy-pants like it was a _bad_ thing. He should've just talked to her earlier, but he didn't, so he sat in the classroom with Mr. Amer, who smelled like prune juice, and did nothing for a half an hour. By the time the class wandered back in, their cheeks pink with the chill autumn air and panting a little bit from running around, Percy was feeling so twitchy he was sure he could catch a fly between two of his fingers.

Annabeth sat on the other side of the room, and Percy cried on the way home, even though he had managed to save his Go-Gurt.

His mom helped him pack things into boxes, and gave him tons of hugs because she knew he was down about Annabeth. His mom's really cool and super smart and she said that Annabeth was probably just upset that he was leaving and didn't know quite how to deal with it yet.

So Percy Jackson packed his clothes and toys and pictures into four different boxes and was completely unaware of the small blonde girl who had stopped her bike and turned around a block from his house.

* * *

When the phone rings at four in the morning on a Sunday, Percy is more upset about the dream it interrupted than the fact that it's a Sunday and four in the morning. He had been eating ice cream with Annabeth, whose hair was in a messy ponytail and she had been laughing, and all of his acne was gone-

But then his phone rings, and the sharp and persistent trill of his generic ringtone is enough to make him force a hand from the warmth of his comforter and blindly around his bedside table for it. His shitty flip phone is cold against his cheek and he rests it on his face so he can put his hand back in the warm comforter where it belongs. "Yeah?"

"Percy?"

Suddenly, reality is even better than his dream. "Hey, Annabeth. What's up?"

"I forgot how weird San Francisco is. Pretty, but _weird_."

"Right, right," Percy mumbled rolling onto his stomach and putting the phone on speaker. "You just got in. How was your flight?"

"It was alright, the usual mostly. The guy next to be had a pretty bad drinking problem, most likely because he had just lost a custody battle with his ex-wife, but the food was better than usual."

Percy can see her smirk from three thousand miles away and asks the question that she wants him to. "And how did you know that?"

"Oh, there were clues about his person." Suddenly her usual mix of Virginia and California is replaced by an atrocious British accent. "You _know_ how I am, Percy dearest."

He lets himself laugh just a little bit. "So you've gone back to Sherlocking strangers, _wonderful_ -"

"Oh, shut _up_ -"

"What can you say about _me_ , Ms. Holmes?"

"That's _Mr._ Holmes to you, Watson-"

He opens his mouth with a question, but-

"Jude Law, Percy, it was Jude Law-"

" _Oh_ -"

"And I have to be able to see you for it to work, but since you sent me that glorious video of the man yodeling to his baby yesterday I will try anyway."

"Impress me, Annabeth. This is your moment."

"Okay, by saying that you're implying that I've never impressed you before, which is false, but I'm gonna say that I woke you up with my phone call-"

"Wow, call the press, not like it's four in the morning or anything-"

"And that you had swim practice yesterday afternoon, but none later today, so you're going to third-wheel with Jason and Piper at the skate park."

Percy closes his eyes and can't fight a stupidly wide smile off his face. "Well, screw me sideways with a chainsaw."

"No thanks, relationships are stupid."

"You don't think relationships are stupid, you think _I'm_ stupid."

"Well, yeah-"

" _Hey_! You're _supposed_ to disagree, you know."

"The first step in any relationship is honestly, Perce. And trust. So, you should trust me to be honest with you."

"So we _are_ in a relationship? I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"Oh, don't be a Seaweed Brain. You know how I feel about," She paused dramatically before saying in a deep voice, " _romance_."

He sighs and hugs his pillow a little tighter before deciding to ignore that 'witty banter' that they've been going along with. "You just need to find the right person-"

"Percy-"

"No, really, I don't think you should be so against dating if you've never _tried_ it. Anyone would be lucky to date you."

" _Duh_ , that's not the issue. Nobody else can match up to _moi_ -"

"I'm serious, Annabeth. When's a better time to really talk about this than four in the morning when we're literally the only ones on the planet awake?"

"You're _so_ wrong I can't even put it into words for you-"

"Please? We don't have to talk about you, we can talk about me, okay? 'Cause I've been feeling weird lately. About dating stuff." Percy shifts onto his back, snuggling deep into his sheets, hoping the fortress that kept monsters out for so many years won't fall short for him now.

When Annabeth speaks again, her voice is softer and Percy doesn't feel like he needs his covers so much. "What's up, Perce?"

"Well, like," He pauses, wishing now more than ever that he had a way with words like Annabeth always did. "You know how I've, um, never, like-"

"Never kissed anyone?" She gently prompted.

"Yeah. Yeah, that. I like- _ugh_ , sorry, I don't know how to say this because I'm already confused about it? It's hard to explain how you're confused."

"It's okay, Seaweed Brain. I'm not going anywhere."

Her voice, like always, is soft and comforting, and Percy lets his mouth speak before his brain of seaweed can stop it. "I think I like boys?"

There is silence, but silence is exactly what Percy doesn't want, so he keeps talking. "I mean, I _know_ I like girls too, because, like...actually, I don't know why-" A lie, that's a total lie, "but I do, but I kind of stare at pretty boys? And sometimes, when I go to McDonalds with Piper she has to order for me because I get nervous if the guy at the cash register is too cute."

Percy holds his hands over his face and holds his breath tight in his lungs and holds back the tears that will fall if Annabeth hangs up and he holds onto the last slip of sanity he will ever have if Annabeth hangs up and he reaches over and holds onto the phone like it's the only thing keeping him tethered to the Earth.

"So, you're bisexual?"

Her voice shocks him so much that he doesn't respond for a couple of seconds, and when he does it's just an exquisitely eloquent, "What?"

"Bisexual. You know, when someone likes both chicks and dicks?"

Percy's breath stutters out of his lungs in a strange mix between a laugh and gasp. "That's a thing?"

"Of _course_ it's a thing, Percy. God, you live in New York, you should know."

"I just didn't really feel comfortable talking about it. Especially since I _don't_ know yet, you know?"

"Percy," Annabeth's voice is like the warm honey his mom sometimes adds to the peppermint tea they have around Christmas. "you don't _have_ to know. We're sixteen. I can barely keep up in Chemistry, much less think about boys or girls or dating or _anything_ crazy like that. But we _love_ you, okay?"

He smiles through the lump in his throat, and pushes his phone, still on speaker, closer to his ear.

"You're an idiot, like, eighty percent of the time, but I love you, and your mom loves you, and Piper and Jason love you, and Grover loves you, and hell, the cashier at _McDonalds_ probably loves you, too."

"I knew I shouldn't have told you that."

Annabeth ignores how thick and shaky his voice is like the most perfect best friend ever.

"It's late over there, Perce."

He glances at the clock. "Yeah, it is."

They're quiet together for almost a minute, and when she finally speaks it's so quiet he almost misses it. "One."

He smiles his Annabeth smile, the one that makes his stomach go to mush, and says, "Two."

When she whispers out a "three" almost twenty seconds later, they both hang up at exactly the same time.

Percy Jackson lays on his back, wrapped in his excruciatingly soft covers, and thinks about the girl that he's in love with, the girl he hasn't seen in nine years, the girl with blonde hair who never wears pigtails, the girl who lives in San Francisco and in Richmond, and he doesn't fall back asleep for another hour.

* * *

Piper should team up with Annabeth and his mom and form an "I can read Percy's mind" club, because the first thing she says to him when he skates up to where her and Jason are sitting later that day is, "How's Annabeth?"

The confusion must show on his face, because Jason says, "She just knows everything Percy, give up trying to understand."

Piper smirked. "Actually it's more the fact that he has the dopey smile on his face that either means he was just hit in the head or talked to Annabeth within the last eighteen hours."

Percy wiggles his butt between the two of them, and lays back onto the grass. "And we all know getting hit in the head is more your thing, Jason, so Annabeth is the only possibility."

Piper gives him a small pat on the stomach. "He doesn't even deny how hopelessly in love he is anymore, look how much he's grown."

"What's the point in denying it? It's not like I've ever been a great liar."

"To be completely frank," Piper says, laying down next to him, "I don't know anyone who _wouldn't_ fall in love with Annabeth. She's sort of perfect, and by sort of I mean completely and utterly, in every way, shape, and form."

Jason finally joins them, choosing to lay down on his stomach instead. "Should I be worried?"

Piper sticks her head up momentarily to look at her boyfriend. "Yes."

Jason just smiles and closes his eyes. "Cool, because I've been meaning to tell you about my torrid affair with the girl in my Physics class-"

"Jason, even _I_ know that if you finish that sentence you'll be kicked in the nuts, and according to everyone I'm an idiot, so you should probably stop talking." Percy interjects.

"Oh, Perce," Piper grabs his hand, "you're only an idiot _most_ of the time, look at that straight up knowledge you just shared with us all."

Percy laughs, and when Piper and Jason start a braiding competition on different sides of his head, he thinks that he will be just fine, despite the fact that he hasn't even seen the love of his life in nine years.

(Can he call her the love of his life if he's only sixteen? Whatever.)

* * *

"So," Jason starts later, after they've skated themselves dizzy and sore. "I've been meaning to ask."

"Yes, dearest?" Percy says with his mouth full of a blue raspberry snow cone.

"What's the deal with the 'one, three' thing you and Annabeth do?"

Percy turns red from his collarbone all the way to the roots of his hair. "Well-"

"With a blush like that now you _have_ to tell us."

"Shut up, Piper, I'm getting to it, alright?"

Piper looks up at Jason from where she's resting her head in his lap and they share a gross relationship moment where they talk without saying anything. Percy's chest hurts a little, but thinking about Annabeth makes it a little better, so he presses on."

"Well, Annabeth hates goodbyes because-" Percy decides that sharing his best friend's personal issues with parental abandonment is probably _not_ a good idea after all. "Well, just because. And like, 'see you later' isn't really a great sign off either, and 'talk to you soon' is generally followed with a 'bye' anyway, so we just count to three and hang up."

Piper and Jason look at him without blinking.

"So like," When Percy gets nervous he tends to over explain things. "One of us will say 'one' and then the other will say 'two' and then the first person will say 'three' and then we, you know. Hang up. Without saying goodbye. Because goodbyes-"

"Suck, yeah, we get it." Piper glances up at Jason for a moment, before looking back at Percy. "So, you're conflicted because you think she doesn't like you back?"

"Well, I mean-"

Jason interrupts this time. "That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard, because that whole 'one two three' thing is the most relationsihpy thing to ever relationship, and my girlfriend's mom once gave me a condom."

" _Jason_! We said we'd never speak of that again."

* * *

Later on, Percy tapes his phone to the side of his face so he can talk to Annabeth while she demolishes him on Call of Duty.

"How're Bobby and Matthew? Still leaving legos in your shower?"

She sighs as she shoots him solidly in the head. "Always. I don't really see _why_ but I gave up trying to understand years ago."

"Why don't you leave jello or something under their covers?" Percy asks as he finds a solid sniping spot.

"That's so obvious, come _on_! If I get them back it has to a) not trace back to me-"

Percy gets shot in the back and groans.

"and b) has to be bad enough for them that they never consider messing with me again."

Percy respawns and dies immediately. "Okay, _how_? I don't even know why I play you anymore."

"Neither do I, honestly, but it's still fun to kill you multiple times in a minute."

"Thanks."

"'Course. Where are you hiding?"

"I'm not going to tell you! I haven't gotten a single kill on you today."

"It's nice that you try to delay the inevitable. How're Jason and Piper?"

"They're good, still gross and dating, but good" Percy mutters and he dives behind a car to avoid sudden machine gun fire.

"I rest my case."

The bullets stop raining down, and Percy tentatively peaks his head above the hood of the car to see if he can spot Annabeth's green camo figure. "Ok, they're _gross_ , but they're also happy and are both really good at being friends with me instead of sucking face 24/7."

"Yeah they only such face 18/7, they spend the other six hours sleeping."

Percy gets stabbed in the back.

"God _dammit_ Annabeth!" Percy throws his head back in frustration and the tape holding his phone to his cheek peels off. He can still hear Annaabeth's distorted laughter despite the fact that the phone's on the floor, and he rushes to pick it back up "Ok, ok, pause, the phone fell off my face."

"Yeah, yeah, nice try."

"Really I swear." Percy's voice cracks as he tapes his phone back, which is only slightly mortifying. "I think I'm just about all video gamed out."

"Didn't think I'd ever hear those words."

"Well, when you find an even competitor one day maybe you'll understand." Instead of the gloating Percy was expecting, all he gets is silence. "Annabeth?" There's a scuffle on their other side, and Annabeth's muffled voice saying, "Yeah, dad, of course."

Percy waits until he can hear her breaths coming into the receiver again. "How's Papa Chase?"

"Awkward and disconnected, as usual." All of the lighthearted humor that was in her voice has vanished.

"You wanna talk about it or do you want to shoot me in the head a few more times?"

"I thought you were video gamed out."

"Well," Percy says as he picks up his controller. "I don't think I've beaten you enough yet."

"Oh, _really_? That's how it is?"

"Oh yeah." Percy smiles his Annabeth smile. " _That's_ how it is.


End file.
